All photos by Jason Greenough for Vanyaland.
Heard in the men’s room following the Metallica show Friday night (August 2) at Gillette Stadium: “And we get to do it again Sunday!” [followed by a gleefully sloppy – and perhaps alcohol-infused – high five]
Also heard in the men’s room following the Metallica show Friday night at Gillette Stadium: “Who would want to see them again after the worst fuckin’ setlist of their entire career?”
Such is the pendulum swing of emotions generated by the biggest metal band in history, one whose extremes include rising from the gutters of early-’80s Los Angeles to performing at the Grammys with Lady Gaga. Fittingly, the fandom spectrum varies from love ‘em or hate ‘em and every possible accolade and criticism in between. At this juncture, James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, Kirk Hammett, and Robert Trujillo have earned the right to not care less about pleasing everyone, but they still do their best.
Friday in Foxboro, with support from the rebooted Pantera and Van Halen descendants Mammoth WVH, was the first of two M72 World Tour gigs at the venue over the weekend, with the second taking place after lengthy weather and then equipment delays last night, part of the two-yearlong tour to support the latest Metallica album, last year’s 72 Seasons. The hook to bring in as many people as feasible to the pair of shows is no songs would repeat across them.
This left the door open to a myriad of options, as fans weren’t guaranteed to hear any song on any night, which is genius and groundbreaking when you think about it. Sure, there will always be artists who go against the grain, but name one of Metallica’s caliber who can pack a stadium with the chance that their biggest hits won’t be performed. That means you might not hear “Enter Sandman,” “Master of Puppets,” “One,” or “Nothing Else Matters.” The dilemma is to go home slightly disappointed or empty the wallet for both nights.
But that’s the pessimistic way of looking at things. For longtime followers, the stunt presents an opportunity for a deep dive into a catalog that spans four decades. And dive deep Metallica did. Opening with the one-two-three punch of “Creeping Death,” “Harvester of Sorrow” and “Leper Messiah” presented an intro beyond reproach by anyone but the most jaded which, as the aforementioned bathroom downer proved, do exist.
Newer devotees, the ones who don’t rubber stamp anything past 1988’s …And Justice for All as “sell out,” they got some too. Later era hits and singles “King Nothing,” “Sad But True” and “The Day That Never Comes” had just as many expressing elation as those old school fanatics who grooved along to the sprawling, deep cut instrumental “Orion,” dedicated to late bass player Cliff Burton.
Overall, Metallica touched on 10 of their 11 studio albums on night one, forsaking only the oft-maligned St. Anger, in trying to send the majority home happy. It’s a tricky balance to attempt, one even more difficult than playing multi-day, multi-band festivals like the 2022 edition of Boston Calling, when the band closed out the final night of the three-day event by leaning hard into the squillion-selling Black Album. In those cases, it’s typically just giving the mainstream something with which they’re familiar, leaving a crumb or two for diehards.
A trio of tracks from 72 Seasons were included Friday, also a source of consternation for many, as they were somewhat shoehorned into the middle of the set and felt obligatory. It is the M72 World Tour though, so there can only be so much bitching about it.
The same can’t be said for Trujillo and Hammett’s “doodle” segment, where the two are given free rein to come up with something related to whatever city Metallica is playing. Friday, they provided an original jam titled “Foxboro on the Run,” which was significantly more bearable than the bassist and guitarist whipping out “Sweet Caroline” Sunday. Still, it’s hard to complain when there’s clearly no one in the place having more fun than the duo, who are all too often relegated to afterthought status by the alpha male-isms of Hetfield and nonstop chatter of Ulrich.
As one of the last acts of their kind to be able to pull off the self-indulgence of stadium rock, which peaked in the ‘70s, Metallica at least make a spectacle of it. A multi-day “Boston Takeover” began last Thursday and included everything from the obligatory pop-up shop at Patriot Place to a film festival at Somerville Theatre to multiple events focused on the band’s brand of whiskey.
Inside Gillette was the largest production ever put on by Metallica. The “Snake Pit” area filled with fans in the middle of the 120-foot wide in-the-round stage, first appearing in 1991, is now at its most expansive, holding upwards of 1,200 audience members per night. Ulrich had four different drum lifts to play throughout the evening while Hetfield’s mic stands were strategically stationed around the circle allowing him to belt out “Fuel” or lead a singalong to the chorus of “Seek & Destroy” wherever he roamed.
For those outside of the pit and off the general admission floor surrounding the stage, there were eight, ground-supported, 100-foot-tall towers which were both deceptively sparse and gargantuan that housed 60-foot plus circular LED video panels, each with three screens. The graphics varied and hardly ever portrayed just what was happening onstage, which took some getting used to but was never boring.
Now that the Metallica no-repeat weekend is over, and despite the M72 World Tour designed to be as intimate and immersive as a stadium will allow, here’s hoping the next performance in the region will have a roof over it. After all, it’s been a decade and a half since the group last played somewhere in Boston that wasn’t open-air, going back to a 2009 appearance at the Garden.